1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a deployable lattice column which incorporates certain overlapping or redundant, lateral elements to increase the structural capabilities of the column and to preserve the structural integrity of the column should one or more of the redundant lateral elements fail.
2. Prior Art
Deployable lattice columns are used in a variety of environments including both space and terrestial applications. In many of these environments, the column can be subjected to physical destruction, for example by impacting micrometeorites or shrapnel.
In a lattice column such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,279, it is not unusual that the strength of the column will be decreased by about fifty percent upon destruction of a single diagonal member. Various solutions have been proposed to minimize failure of the column in such hazardous environments. For example, it has been proposed to include a multiplicity of parallel lateral elements in the column. However, this significantly complicates and hinders collape of the column to a compact volume, one of the column's essential features, and does not significantly improve the characteristics of the deployed column. Moreover, adjacent parallel elements both can be destroyed simultaneously by impaction with a micrometeorite or shrapnel fragment. Another approach to achieve a deployable lattice column that will survive small particle impaction has been to vary either the cross-sectional dimensions of the various elements of the column or to change the diameter of the column itself. While this will result in a column of increased strength, both initially and after impaction, such a column presents a substantially increased weight and also occupies a significantly increased volume when collapsed both of which are offsetting disadvantages.
It is an object of this invention to provide a deployable lattice column of substantial strength even upon failure or destruction of one or more of its lateral elements. It is another object of this invention to achieve such a column without substantially increasing its weight or overall size, or its collapsed volume. These and other objects of the invention will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment.